


Quiet Morning

by ami_ven



Category: The Song of the Lioness - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-04
Packaged: 2018-05-24 18:03:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6161887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alanna and Faithful spend a quiet morning in the forest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet Morning

**Author's Note:**

> written as a birthday present for "thegreylioness" in 2014

Alanna rose with the sun, leaving Faithful curled up on the foot of her bedroll as she laid a fire in the now-cold stone circle. She had put the fire out before going to sleep, as the night was warm enough not to need one, but she really did prefer her breakfast cooked.

She had chosen a campsite at the edge of Trebond’s borders, but she had avoided meeting anyone on her ride there. It was quiet at this hour, with only a few birds singing and a gentle breeze ruffling the leaves on the trees. Alanna breathed in the cool morning air, enjoying the quiet, until the fire started, and she set about cooking a rabbit she had caught the night before.

The smell of roasting rabbit woke her lazy cat, who sat beside her, flicking his tail until she offered him the first piece.

_A little overdone_ , said Faithful. _But it will do. Oh, and happy birthday._

“Is it my birthday?” asked Alanna, surprised. She counted days in her head. “I suppose it is.”

Alanna had mixed feelings about her birthday— perhaps she would be feeling more able to celebrate growing another year older, if it did not also bring the guilt of losing the mother she had never known and could not remember.

“I just wonder what the gods were thinking, choosing me,” she said, softly. “What good can I do?”

The celestial cat rubbed his head against her knee. _You are doing the best you can, and that is all anyone can ask. Even the gods._

Alanna nodded. “You know, if I’d stayed in Corus, George would’ve insisted on throwing me a birthday party. A loud one.”

_Then it’s probably for the best that we’re out here by ourselves, isn’t it?_

“Yes, it is,” she agreed.

THE END


End file.
